CHAPTER TEN: MITIGATION
1 In the 1960 s and 1970 s ... In these decades, legislative and judicial reforms tightened the
procedures by which individuals where subject to involuntary commitment. Stanley S.
Herr, Stephen Arons, and Richard E. Wallace Jr., Legal Rights and Mental Health Care
(Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983 ). In 1978 , the United States Supreme Court raised
the burden on states seeking to have individuals involuntarily committed to mental health
hospitals from the low “preponderance of the evidence” standard to a more difficult “clear
and convincing evidence” standard. Addington v. Texas, 441 U.S. 418 ( 1978 ).
2 Today, over 50 percent of prison ... Doris J. James and Lauren E. Glaze, “Mental Health
Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates,” Special Report, Bureau of Justice Statistics
(September 2006 ), available at http://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mhppji.pdf, accessed July
2 , 2013. This number breaks down to 56 percent percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of
federal prisoners, and 64 percent of local jail prisoners. In total, that accounts for an
estimated 1 , 264 , 300 inmates. This study is the most comprehensive recent study available
and yet was conducted in 2005 , so numbers may have changed in more recent years.
However, current sources ( 2012 – 13 ) still cite this study, so I feel comfortable concluding
that it is still the most comprehensive and up-to-date source on the subject.
3 Nearly one in five prison ... The category of “serious mental illness” includes
schizophrenia, schizophrenia spectrum disorder, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder,
brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, and psychotic disorders not otherwise
specified. This is distinguished from the more general category of “mental illness,” which
encompasses serious mental illness as well as other forms of mental illness. E. Fuller
Torrey, Aaron D. Kennard, Don Eslinger, Richard Lamb, and James Pavle, “More Mentally
Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons Than Hospitals: A Survey of the States,” Treatment
Advocacy Center (May 2010 ), available at http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/storage/
documents/final_jails_v_hospitals_study.pdf, accessed July 2 , 2013.
4 In fact, there are more than three ... Torrey et al., “More Mentally Ill Persons,” 1.
5 They began squabbling with each other ... The dispute is discussed in George’s
subsequent appeals. Daniel v. State, 459 So. 2 d 944 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984 ); Daniel v.
Thigpen, 742 F. Supp. 1535 (M.D. Ala. 1990 ).
6 George was convicted ... Daniel v. State, 459 So. 2 d 944 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984 ).
7 We eventually won a favorable ruling ... Daniel v. Thigpen, 742 F. Supp. 1535 (M.D. Ala.
1990 ).
8 Confederate Memorial Day was declared a state holiday ... Confederate Memorial Day
was first celebrated in Alabama in 1901. See The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1901
(New York: Press Publishing Co., 1901 ), 29 ; “Confederate Memorial Day,” Encyclopedia of
Alabama, available at http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h- 1663 ,
accessed April 28 , 2014. The holiday remains in the state code today. Ala. Code § 1 - 3 - 8.
9 When black veterans returned ... The 1948 platform of the Dixiecrat party stated, in
part: “We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race; the
